that still doesn’t explain why the west should get involved here.

For humanitarian reasons and because most of the origins of this crisis are Western-caused.

What would we even do?

for starters suspend sanctions, at least partially, so international aid, funding and expertise can enter the country. Then fund projects that could help avert the crisis.

“Several planned initiatives, including projects for artificial groundwater recharge, were suspended following the Taliban takeover,” Mayar pointed out. “Sanctions continue to restrict organisations and donors from funding and implementing essential water-related projects in Afghanistan,” he said.

Sadid pointed out one example: An Awater supply project -funded by the German Development bank KfW, along with European agencies – could have supplied 44 billion litres (11 billion gallons) of water annually to parts of Kabul from Logar aquifers.

“But currently this project has been suspended,” he said, even though two-thirds of the initiative was already completed when the government of former President Ashraf Ghani collapsed in 2021.

…

“Sanctions restrict Afghanistan’s access to essential resources, technology, and funding needed for water infrastructure development and maintenance,” he said. This, in turn, reduces agricultural productivity, and increases hunger and economic hardship, forcing communities to migrate, he warned.

In the first place the sanctions on Afghanistan are only going to be counterproductive. The people of Afghanistan need to develop economically before they can have political ambitions; the longer they’re kept in poverty the longer the Taliban will remain in power.